Cooler Master Devastator 3 Review

Cooler Master has sent us for Devastator 3 for the review. The Devastator 3 is a Combo of the keyboard and the mouse. It has enhanced the already popular Devastator 2  with the features like adjustable DPI up to 2400 and tactile keys for improved feedback, this is ideal for PC enthusiasts. And now with 7 different LED color options, you can customize your peripherals to match your hardware.

Cooler Master Devastator 3 Review

• Item:                    Cooler Master Devastator 3 Review
• Manufacturer:       Cooler Master
• Price:                    Check Price on Amazon

Devastator 3 Specification

Devastator 3 Packaging and Unboxing

The combo comes in a cardboard box packing with extended length. The top side has a picture of the keyboard and the mouse on the main section. The Cooler Master logo is printed on the top left side. The peripherals feature 7 colors LED backlighting. The model of the item is printed below the keyboard picture. The keyboard follows US Layout.

The backside of the packing box has the Cooler Master’s brand logo is printed on the top left side followed by the model of the item. Salient features of the keyboard and the mouse are printed in bullet format in 9 different languages. Contact info of the company is printed on the bottom of the right side. Serial no is pasted on the middle bottom side.

The left side of the packing box has the model of the item printed in the white color on the left side. Items are Windows 10 compatible. EAN and UPC labels are printed on the right side. Country of manufacturing is China.

The right of the packing box has the Cooler Master’s brand logo printed on the left side. The main section has the item model printed in the white color.

The rear side of the box has The Gaming Gear Combo printed in the white color in 22 different languages.

The opening side of the packing box has the Cooler Master’s brand logo printed on the left side.

The keyboard and the mouse are nicely tucked side by side inside the main container box. The keyboard is wrapped inside a transparent sheet. The mouse is also inside the transparent sheet and placed inside styrofoam. The cables of each component are nicely hidden under the black color covers.

Devastator 3 Accessories

There is only a user manual in the box that is well laid out and covers the basic operations, particularly the key combinations to change the colors or cycle the lighting effect etc.

Cooler Master Devastator 3 Closer Look

Let’s take a closer look at the gaming gear combo from the Cooler Master one by one starting with the keyboard. This keyboard is using the Membrane switches. So, yes this is not a mechanical keyboard, should you be wondering. The keyboard has a bold design and would definitely mix and match with the overall gaming setup.

The keyboard is made of plastic as expected with the membrane-based keyboards but don’t let this get you away from it as the build quality is top notch on it. There is a gap between the top surface and the PCB. The PCB has a white color cover on top of it. The keys are like floating on that white cover.

Once lighting is on, it really gives a cool look and feels to the keyboard as the light is diffused on the top of that white cover which gives the impression that the keys are hanging right on top of it. The lighting effect is subtle and it does not spread un-evenly and remains within the gap between the top surface and the white cover.

The borders of the keyboard are designed in a stylish yet bold way which further adds to the aesthetics of the overall design. The left and the right sides have shiny plastic which is reflective. Mind you they catch the dust and fingerprints very easily. On the front side, we have a similar pattern. There is a shiny yet reflective plastic. The multimedia keys are implemented right in this cooler master devastator 3 review part.

The middle part on the front has an inset and this is where the USB cable comes out. This cable is flexible and is not braided. There is no USB pass through on this keyboard. The top middle section is further raised above the surface which complements the design.

The rear side of the keyboard has the plastic body extending towards the user with lines engraved in a pattern which again, goes very well in the overall design of the layout of the keyboard’s frame. There is another shiny cover right behind the bottom keys. The keycaps on the keyboard are laser-etched and grip-coated for minimal wear and optimal functionality. Somehow, I have found the keycaps to catching the fingerprints very easily. Be careful with using greased fingers on this cooler master devastator 3 keyboard Review.

The keys layout is pretty simple and basic one. This keyboard is using the US layout. We have a dedicated numpad on the right side of the keyboard. On top of the number keypad, there are three lighting zones which light up only in static white color.

These are to show the status of the Num lock, Caps lock, and Win Lock. This is surprising as most of the keyboards usually have the third indicator for the Scroll lock. This keyboard does not have indicator lighting for the Scroll Lock.

The area left to the numpad has a typical layout as well. On the bottom, we have the direction movement keys indicated by the arrows. The top section has three keys which are PRT SC for taking a snapshot of the current screen, SCR LK which is a Scroll Lock and the Pause key. The middle section has set of 6 keys. The top three are INS, HOME, and PAGE UP while the bottom set has DEL, END, and PAGE DOWN keys.

Take a note on the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys as they have *+ and *- printed on the bottom side as well. Using the combination of the Fn and PAGE UP keys once can increase the brightness of the lighting. Using the combination of the Fn and PAGE DOWN keys, one can decrease the brightness of the lighting.

There is a Fn key available with this keyboard. Fn key has multiple on with this keyboard. Here is a tabular format of this key information:

Fn	PAGE UP	Increase the Brightness of the lighting.
Fn	PAGE DOWN	Decreases the Brightness of the lighting.
Fn	COOLER MASTER FN LK (Windows Key)	Locks/Unlocks the Windows key
Fn	F11	Locks/Unlocks the Keyboard
Fn	*≈◌	Changes the backlighting effect
Fn	–	Reduces the pulsating speed of the lighting effect
Fn	=	Increases the pulsating speed of the lighting effect.

 

The top side has a typical keys layout starting with the Escape key followed by the F1 to F12 keys grouped in 3 sets each of 4 keys. The Cooler Master keycap on the left side of the spacebar acts as windows key and can be toggled with the combination with the Fn key. The spacebar has a line etched in the middle to reflect the lighting effect.

One thing I appreciate in the overall design is the provision of the dedicated keys which are not dependent on the Fn function key. On the top left side, there is a Stop button, Play/Pause button, Rewind/Fast Rewind button and the Forward/Fast Forward button.

Notice the implementation of these keys right into the shiny plastic border. On the right side, we have Volume Down and Volume Up keys which are again implemented right into the shiny border of the keyboard.

Let’s take a look at the backside of the keyboard. There is a label in the middle of the frame. It has a Cooler Master brand logo on the top. cooler master devastator 3 review is written right under the logo. Model No of the keyboard i.e SGB-3000-KKMF1-US is printed as well. The keyboard takes 5V DC as input power. The USB cable follows the USB 1.1 interface. There is a Cooler Master brand logo on the USB connector. This keyboard has a poll rate of 125 Hz.

There is no wrist rest provision on this keyboard which really should have been provided for the typing convenience during long time usage. The keyboard features an ultralow profile for decreased strain, while anti-slide rubber pads underneath prevent slippage.

Let’s take a look at the Gaming Mouse provided in the Gaming Gear Combo. The mouse has a USB 2.0 interface connectivity. Its dimensions are 119.1×64.6×36.7mm (LxWxH). The mouse is ergonomically pleasing, with an ultralow flat profile for convenience and a large mouse wheel for ease of use.

The mouse is custom-tailored for hardcore serious gaming. It has durable Omron switches. These are rated for 10 million precise key presses. This mouse features an Avago optical sensor that’s optimized for extreme gaming. It has 4 DPI levels. These are 600, 1200, 1800 and 2400. Cooler Master has gone quite a length here.

The mouse has a weight of 128g/0.28lbs. This is including the cable. There are four lighting zones on this mouse. The front side has lighting which is somehow hidden to the user during the operation. The mouse wheel has LED lighting; the button behind the mouse wheel has lighting and traces line on the rear side light up. Like the keyboard, the mouse has 7 colors to choose from.

The left and the right sides have rubber paddings for maximum grip and to avoid slippage. The left side has two buttons with the arrow marks. The combination of the button with ˅ and the top button would decrease the DPI level. The combination of the button with ˄ and the top button would increase the DPI level. Pressing the top button once at a time will change the color of the lighting. Lighting can be turned off as well.

The backside of the mouse has a label pasted on it. The Cooler Master brand logo is printed on the top left side of it followed by the cooler master devastator 3 review. The mouse model no SGB-3000-KKMF1-US is printed under the bad code. There are two rubber mountings on the left and right sides on the top and the on the bottom to avoid slippage. Avago Optical sensor is visible in the middle section.

The cover on the top side of the mouse has implementation giving the impression that it has a separation for the left and the right sides. There is an inset portion of the palm grip area with LEDs underneath it. The plastic cover on the keypress area catches the fingerprints quite easily.

Even within a few days of using, these areas got the finger marks on them. The rear side has a combed mesh design to it which adds to the overall look and feel of the mouse. The clicking sound of the buttons is satisfactory. Mouse wheel movement is ok.

I have been using the mechanical keyboards for quite some time. It is hard to get hands on the membrane switches after using the mechanical ones. I gave enough time to this gaming combo before making my impression and writing. I have used it for gaming, for making content, for editing the pics etc. In fact, this text is also coming from the same keyboard.

I have a positive experience with this keyboard and the mouse. 1200 DPI seems to be a better fit for the FPS gaming. I found it hard to move the cursor around from left side to the right side on higher DPI. It gives the impression that the mouse is not placed on the balanced surface and that it is inclining on one side than the other.

The Enter key and the shift keys on the keyboard are hard and take pressure to press. There is no wrist pad on the keyboard. Other than that, I have nothing to complain about this combo.

Lighting

The mouse and keyboard in the Cooler Master Devastator 3 Combo are RGB capable, with seven different backlight options to choose from. Personalize your setup with custom color pairings to mix and match to your other PC accessories. These colors are, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow. Light Blue, Purple and white. Lighting effect can be turned off as well.

There are only two lighting effects pulsating and Static. The brightness of the static colors can be controlled using the Fn key and the PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN keys combination. The pulsating speed can be controlled using the combination of the Fn and -/= keys.

Here are some pics of it with lighting.

Conclusion

The Cooler Master Devastator 3 is a gaming gear combo of the Keyboard and the mouse. The keyboard has the dimension of the 449.7( L) x 148.4( W) x 35.6 (H)mm. It has connector cable based on USB 1.1. It has a polling rate of 125 Hz. It does have dedicated multimedia keys which are independent of the function key. The keys layout is simple and there is nothing particular about the layout. Our sample has US Layout on it.

The keyboard has customized membrane switches with tactile feedback. The keyboard is made of the plastic and carries the weight of the 898gm. Being a membrane-based keyboard, it does not have N-Key Roll over, faster debounce time, a light press of a key to get register etc functions. There are no macro keys/functions nor USB Passthrough. It is as simple a membrane keyboard as it could be with bold looks and awesome RGB backlighting.

The mouse provided in the combo has the dimension of 1191. (L) x 64.6 (W) x 36.7 (H) mm. It has Avago Optical sensor and has built-in four DPI profiles with the range of 600, 1200, 1800 and 2400. The DPI can be switched by using the combination of the top button and left side button(s). The mouse has durable Omron switches which are rated for the 10 million precise key presses. The mouse has a weight of a 128gm including the cable.

Both components have RGB lighting on them. There are 7 colors to light the peripherals which are Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Light Blue, Purple, and white. The mouse has static color mode only whereas the keyboard has pulsating mode as well along with the ability to control the speed and the brightness of the lighting effect and lights respectively.

I have used it for gaming, editing pictures, creating content files. In fact, this text is also coming from the same keyboard. I had to adjust myself in getting tuned to these as I am coming from the mechanical keyboard background.

The keyboard does not have wrist pad or any provision. Some keys were hard to press, but that is the case with the membrane switches. After using for some time, they open up and the complaint was long gone. 1200 DPI seems to be better DPI setting to play at using this mouse.

Based on the form, function and the price, the Cooler Master Devastator 3 has won our Value award. I am thankful to the Cooler Master for giving me the opportunity to review their Devastator 3.

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